The one or the other
by 6pathsOfPain
Summary: Sasuke comes back to the village, damaged. A familiar man deliver a letter to Naruto and things starts to happen. Everyone is concerned about the creature that is attacking the villagers. Sasunaru.
1. The Arrival

_"Naruto! __You must help me! "_

The birds chirped outside Naruto's window. The sun dazzled him, and he enjoyed the warmth that spread over his face. Naruto scratched his cheek and pulled a bit of the whiskers. The blond-haired boy sighed as you always do in the morning, and then kicked off his blanket and sat up.  
Then his blue eyes got stuck on the group photo which was placed on the nightstand and it reminded him about the dream, or the imagination he had this night.

"Sasuke, where are you?" Naruto mumbled.

Sasuke was his best friend, but escaped to that sleazy Orochimaru to become stronger and take revenge on his older brother; Itachi. That was for three years ago, and one week ago Naruto lost his

hope to take Sasuke back to the village.

Naruto went to the fridge, opened it and sighed, again.

"There's never food in here," he said to himself while he scratched his neck.  
Naruto took a sip from a milk package, in desperate need of food. Spit it out in the sink directly. The taste wasn't very nice. Maybe Naruto could eat some ramen at Ichiraku, before he would meet up with Kakashi and Sakura at the training site. Then he remembered that his money was exhausted.

"Damn_._"

"Naruto- kun!"  
Sakura came running toward Naruto. Her pink hair waved in the air and her green eyes sparkled in the sunlight. She smiled at him. Naruto and Sakura were just a few meters away from the rendezvous point.

"Sakura-chan."

"Do you think Kakashi is late again?" she asked.

"Of course," Naruto said. He realized that it maybe sounded a bit stupid, so he smiled a bit silly.

"I wonder why he wanted to talk to us," Sakura said suspiciously and looked at Naruto.

Naruto nodded in agreement while he saw that they had come to the training location where the three wooden posts stood. The memories from there reminded him of his dream.

"Sakura, I dreamed a dream last night ... though I don't know if it was just a dream or imagination ..." he said.

"Tell me about it," Sakura said and sat on the left post and turned her head so she could see Naruto. Naruto sat on the middle wooden post.

"The dream or imagination was about Sasuke; he talked to me and said that he should come soon. He shouted for help… he sounded scared."

"It was probably nothing special," Sakura said, and wanted immediately start talking about how her training with Tsunade went yesterday. Naruto thought she dismissed his subject a bit fast and didn't seem to care about Sasuke.

When Sakura had talked too much about her workout, Kakashi finally showed up from the trees and he waved at the two curious teenagers. Kakashi was late, as usual, but he was nervous. His grey hair stood up as usually and his headband sat diagonally and covered his eye.

"By the way, where's Sai?" Naruto asked Sakura.

"He's in the hospital, he was attacked yesterday," she answered and looked a little bit worried.

"Oh…" Naruto said, and decided to visit Sai today and ask him what's happened.

"Good morning," Kakashi said. He smiled, but something seemed to worry him. He looked strange to the bushes, but then turned his head to the teenagers on the wooden posts again. "I have received some information about Orochimaru," he said, but almost as a whisper.

"Finally," Naruto said and he could feel deep down in his heart that the little hope grew.

"Yes… finally. Well, he has moved to a different place, and one of his ninjas escaped the day before yesterday. I don't know more than that." Kakashi seemed relived and he relaxed a little.

"That's more than we're used to know," Naruto said but couldn't think of anything but a certain person. "Sasuke ...?"

"We haven't heard a single word about him," Kakashi answered and looked confused at Sakura who had snorted.

"Is Sai better today?" Kakashi asked her.

"I'm afraid not," Sakura said. "He was very weak yesterday evening and we don't know exactly what's wrong with him."

"Did you want to tell us something more?" Naruto asked Kakashi. Kakashi shook his head. "I need to talk with you, Sensei."

Sakura said good-bye and walked away. Kakashi looked at Naruto and waited for him to start talking.

"I need to borrow something from you," Naruto said and felt that he started to blush. Kakashi looked questioning at Naruto. "It's a little bit embarrassing but I need to borrow some money..."

"Of course, Naruto. But don't be embarrassed. It's not you fault that you don't have any parents that takes care of you."

Around four o'clock Naruto went to the hospital to visit Sai. He walked to the desk and saw a young woman there. She looked tired and Naruto supposed she'd work all night.

"Hey, I want to meet Sai but I don't know in which room…"

"What is his surname?" the woman asked but didn't look up from the computer screen.

"He has no surname," Naruto answered.

"Everybody has a surname," the woman said annoyed, but when she understood that Naruto was serious she took her eyes of the screen. "212," she said.

Naruto started to feel cranky but walked to Sai's room.

_She was __tired; _he thought and tried to make himself happy again.

Room 212 was far from the entrance, it seemed like years had gone before Naruto stood in front of a white door with the numbers 212 on. He could hear the beeping machines from the room. Naruto opened the door and walked inside.

Sai lay in a bed and was more white than otherwise. He looked very sick, almost dead. But then he shoved that he was alive; he opened his eyes when he heard that a person came in.

"Naruto…" he said with a very hoarse and quiet voice. He had dark circles under the eyes and all of his chakra was gone, even Naruto could feel it.

"Sai, what happened?" he asked him and stood beside the bed.

"You know that I was on a mission with Team Guy..." he started and cleared his throat. "…when we were on our way home I unexpectedly got attacked by someone, from behind."

"Did you see who it was?" Naruto asked. He was shocked, this didn't happen so very often.

"Naruto, please, don't…" Sai said but got prevented.

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked him confused but still wanted an answer.

The already beeping machines started to beep more and Sai began cough.

"Sai!"

One doctor and two nurses ran in to the room.

"Please go out from here," a nurse said to Naruto and ran to the bed. It seemed like Naruto didn't' have a choice so he went out off the room started to walk to the entrance door.

The day was slow and finally when the sun went down, the lonely boy sat down on a chair in his empty apartment. The only sound that you could hear was the yawn from his mouth. This was the time of the day when the mouth was closed in more than ten minutes.

Naruto was tired, but he hadn't done anything hard during the day. He had purchased a little food and packed it in the fridge. He had asked Kakashi to borrow some money and luckily, Kakashi gave him what he needed.  
Naruto remembered what Kakashi had told him and Sakura today and he hoped that is was Sasuke who'd escaped from Orochimaru.  
He realized later that he had automatically associated this a little with his dream.

"Of course it's not like I want it to be like that," he said loud to himself and went to the bed with Sai's short words whispering in his mind.

When ten minutes gone, the boy was sleeping.

Naruto woke up with his heart in his throat and his hands were sweaty.  
He had just dreamed the same dream as the last night, but it felt closer now. He could still hear the screaming voice in his head and tried to think of something else. But the concentration made Naruto alert and he couldn't go back to sleep. Naruto decided to get dressed and take a stroll through the village. He put on the orange outfit and clenched his black headband around his head. After that he went out to the warm summer night.

It was totally quiet everywhere and almost all the lights in the windows were off. Naruto enjoyed the loneliness. A wind blew past him and a shudder passed through his body.

_This would Sasuke appreciate, _he thought.

Naruto walked past a restaurant and he almost thought he saw Lee in there and he was eating with someone at a table. It was the restaurant that couples usual goes to. The restaurant with roses and candles on the tables, a band playing in the background and of course, the champagne bottles. Maybe Lee was with Tenten? It looked like her.  
Naruto went ahead and after a few minutes he was standing at the big village gate. It was open, which was strange because it should be closed every night. There were no guards either at the gate.  
As he stood there he saw something moving in the darkness.

Naruto walked closer and stopped outside the gate. He got himself in the defending position and pulled up a kunai. Suddenly someone touched him and Naruto could feel a person collapse in front of him.

"Naruto!"

"Sasuke…?" The voice was familiar. It was the voice mode Naruto had longed to hear. He couldn't believe this was happening.

"Please Naruto; let me go inside!" the voice sounded again. Naruto felt like he stood on glue or something, because he couldn't move.

Sasuke was scared, he was trembling all over and he looked around all the time like someone was chasing him. Sasuke's voice sounded panicked and he gasped. Naruto didn't know for a while what he should do.  
But in the end, Naruto helped Sasuke up and they went through the gate. Sasuke was leaning on Naruto. He took a look at Sasuke and saw that he was shaking in pain, but the questioning boy saved his questions till later.  
Naruto decided it was best that they went to his apartment. They had to tell Tsunade or someone else in the village tomorrow.

Fortunately, Naruto found his home in the dark and the two boys were finally in the apartment. Sasuke sat on a chair while Naruto poured a glass of cold water to him.  
Now when they found themselves in the light, Naruto could see Sasuke clearly. The sight was terrible; he never thought that someone like the strong and fearless Sasuke could look like this. His face which had always been so flawless was now narrow and dirty. His black hair was worn, and his body reminded Naruto of a skeleton. The clothes he wore were as dirty as the face, and the once white shirt was almost gray.  
The too big shirt revealed his curse seal.  
Sasuke looked down at the floor for a while but then looked at the staring Naruto.

"What are you looking at?" he asked, raising one of his black eyebrows.

"What happened to you?" Naruto asked him and set down his glass to him, and then sat on another chair.

"I have never been so stupid in my whole life," Sasuke started, and he began to shake a little when he held the glass in his hand. "I thought he would train me and make me sufficiently strong enough to fight against Itachi."

"Are you talking about Orochimaru?"

Sasuke nodded and looked at Naruto with tears in his eyes. Naruto had never imagined that a pair of jet black eyes could look so innocent and scared.  
Then Sasuke took the left sleeve and began to pull his arm out of the shirt.

"You know the mark you get if you are a ninja in The Hidden Leaf Village ..." he said. "It was Orochimaru who did it ... I tried to stop him, but I didn't succeed."

The mark he was talking about was The Hidden Leaf Village logo on the left arm. If you had been a ninja in The Hidden Leaf Village for one year, you'll get the mark burned on the skin.  
Sasuke showed Naruto what Orochimaru had done. His leaf had been burned with a dash over it and he had another mark under it.

"The Village Hidden in the Sound," Naruto whispered when he saw the note and when he saw it he realized how deeply wounded Sasuke was.

"He burned the mark," Sasuke said and swallowed. "He chained me so I couldn't run away and then he burned the mark on my arm. He told me that he had to… remove all the links I had to my o-old life."  
The chains that had been sitting on the wrists explained why he had large, infected wounds on his forearms.

"Sasuke ..." Naruto said shocked.

The mark could never be removed, only if you cut off your skin. Naruto had never imagined that Sasuke got into that sort of trouble. A ninja who'd experienced anything like this were wounded for life.  
Sasuke wiped tears from his eyes and put on his shirt again. He tried to hide the marks on his back but when he saw that Naruto was looking on his back, he tried to focus Naruto's eyes on a fake smile instead. By his smile, he calmed Naruto a little. But Naruto knew that nothing was okay.

"Maybe we should sleep ...?" Sasuke asked tired and yawned.

He blinked away the last tears he had in his eyes.  
It couldn't be far till the sun would get up but Naruto made up the sofa, and said that he could sleep there and Sasuke could sleep in the bed. The tired one accepted it.  
Sasuke fell asleep first and Naruto heard at least once when Sasuke called out the blond boy's name in the sleep.


	2. The sibling's letter

**Disclaimer: I don't own Naruto, everything belongs to the creator. But my ideas belongs to my head. **

**The second chapter is uploaded! Read and enjoy and please, if you want too, review. Thanks! **

**The One or the Other **

Chapter 2: The sibling's letter

The morning came too soon and Naruto was tired when he woke up. The weather outside was the opposite of the yesterday's weather. There were no singing birds and the sky was crying. The rain dripped on the window. It was cold in the apartment and Naruto was freezing on the sofa. He had just a blanket and a pillow so it wasn't strange if he was freezing. Sasuke was still sleeping. The awaken boy decided to go and wake his friend up. He pulled of the blanket and went to his bed.

"Sasuke," he said and shook the dark-haired a little. The boy opened his eyes and yawned.

"Good morning," Sasuke said and smiled.

Naruto looked paralysed into the black eyes.

"We must go to Tsunade soon, she's always busy at lunchtime," Naruto said and did the sofa respectable. Sasuke widened his eyes and ran into the bathroom.

"Why didn't you wake me up earlier?" he cried from the bathroom, but he didn't want an answer. Naruto heard the running water from the shower. He prepared some breakfast and changed clothes. After that he sat on a chair at the dinner table and waited until Sasuke was finished. When he was, they started eating some cereals and sandwiches.

"You know Sasuke…" Naruto said and put in a spoon of cereals in his mouth. "…you're talking in your sleep."

"Do I?" Sasuke said and raised his eyebrows while he blushed. Naruto nodded in agreement. But Naruto didn't tell him that Sasuke called after _him_ when he was asleep.

The sights of Sasuke's bony body made Naruto feel sick so he tried to pour more cereals in his bowl but Sasuke stopped Naruto and put his hand to cover the bowl.

"I'm fine," he said and tried to convince the blue-eyed.

_No, you're not__, _Naruto thought.

Naruto and Sasuke went to the Fifth Hokage's building at ten o'clock. They had umbrellas with them but they didn't need them. It seemed like the rain stopped for a while.

"Can I really wear this?" Sasuke asked and looked at Naruto.

"Of course," Naruto answered and looked at his friend. The dark-blue t-shirt and the black pants were too big for him, but it was the only thing he could borrow. Naruto didn't own many clothes so Sasuke chose the dark-blue instead of another, white one.

Naruto looked up from the way and saw Lee and Tenten in front of him.

Lee wore his green suit like always and Tenten had her big scroll on her back.

"Sasuke, are you back?" Lee said and waved to Naruto. Lee's black eyes were enormous and wide-opened, well, more then they were normally.

"Yeah," Sasuke answered and tried to stay calm, but the nervousness won.

"When…?" started Tenten but was interrupt by Sasuke.

"We must go and visit Tsunade," he said urgent.

"I understand, bye then…" Lee said and the two boys started to walk again.

"Bye," Naruto said and looked back straight away and saw a strange, but lucky scene. Lee and Tenten hold each others hands.

Then it was Tenten he saw yesterday with Lee in the restaurant. Naruto saw that Sasuke limped a little.

"Sasuke…your leg," he said.

"How many times do you want me to say that I'm fine?" Sasuke said irritable. Naruto was smart enough and closed his mouth. But, of course, Sasuke's irritable sound repeated in his head.

They looked at the opposite directions and the short way seemed longer than it actually was.

But at last, they had Tsunade's big, red building in front of them and walked inside.

"Naruto! Just listen to me!"

Tsunade stood up and she was red in her face. They were in Tsunade's office. Kakashi were there to, because he was the leader of team 7. Tsunade had summoned him exactly when the door opened and Sasuke and Naruto walked inside.

"I know Sasuke is your friend and all that, but this isn't about you," she said. This time, more calm.

Tsunade's blond hair was tangled and she had dark circles under her eyes. It looked like she had stayed up all night.

Naruto felt the blush on his cheeks and calmed down. He wasn't used to see Tsunade angry at him. Then he looked at Kakashi, who stared at him. Naruto felt uncomfortable and wanted to scream. This was unfair. Then he looked to Sasuke, and smiled. He didn't want to scream in front of _him_. The bastard would smile and be satisfied then. Naruto hadn't afforded to give Sasuke that pleasure.

"Ok, I'll go. But, please, tell me why the gate was open yesterday night," Naruto said and hoped he would get an answer.

"Someone opened it," she said. Naruto looked at Sasuke but he shook his head. Then Naruto walked to the door and went outside.

"The bastard doesn't want my help anyway. He lives on revenge. What else?"

Naruto walked on the way back to his apartment and kicked the rocks on the way. He was angry at Tsunade. Why couldn't he be with them when Sasuke were going to tell them what happened? Sasuke could barely talk to Naruto about it, and what was going to happen when he talked with two adults? Tsunade didn't understand this. She of all people should understand; she is the Hokage after all.

Then, he realised it was quiet and it was only Naruto and two others on the street. What did the other people do in the morning?

Then he saw something moving in the nearest alley to the left.

It was something big.

Then it appeared.

It wore a big cape and a hat. It walked towards Naruto.

Naruto stood still on the spot and he had an almost two-meter big man in front of him.

The man took of his hat and Naruto knew who it was at once.

"What are you doing here?" he asked the man and looked up so he could see the man into the white eyes.

Naruto knew in what kind of danger he had one meter ahead of him.

That guy had come to the village once before. He hurt Kakashi and three other teachers, with his partner.

"My partner sent of me on a little "mission"." A smile appeared and so did the acuminate teeth.

"Where's your beloved sword then?" Naruto asked.

"Where it belongs," the man said tricky. Then he pulled out his right hand out of the right pocket and handed Naruto an envelope.

"What is it?" Naruto asked suspiciously.

"A letter, to your friend: Sasuke Uchiha."

"Is it one of Akatsuki's traps again, Kisame?" Naruto asked equally tricky as the blue, shark-like man.

"No," Kisame answered.

"By the way, where's your cape with the clouds on, and your straw-hat?"

"You'll understand later," the man said and smiled again, but this time more kindly. He handed over the envelope, and this time Naruto took it. Then Kisame put on his hat again and walked towards the alley.

Naruto started to walk.

Why hadn't he stopped Kisame? Naruto disliked himself now; he was supposed to be a ninja and protect the village. He had had one of Akatsuki's members in front of him and he hadn't done anything. But something wasn't like usual. He looked at the envelope he hold in his hand and he read the script. The signs were written beautifully, like an artist paints. They formed the initials "SU".

Naruto continued his walk to his apartment.

Naruto stood in front of his door. Had he locked it before he and the bastard went before? He pressed down the handle and it wasn't locked. He went in and took of his shoes and he put the envelope on the dinner-table.

Then he heard something from the bathroom. It sounded like subs. Naruto went to the bathroom-door and saw it opened.

Sasuke stood at the sink, and he was crying.

"Sasuke…" Naruto said chocked.

Sasuke stopped cry and looked up in the mirror. His eyes met the Naruto's through the mirror.

"Naruto…"

"What's wrong?" Naruto looked his friend in the eyes. The jet-black eyes were full of tears.

"Tsunade decided it'll be best if I were in prison," Sasuke said. "Kakashi agreed. I know I did bad things and s-stuff like that but I wasn't prepared for this!" Sasuke yelled and cried at the same time.

Naruto didn't know what he should do. How many times had Sasuke cried before? Naruto thought of maybe one time, but he wasn't sure. But he was sure that fine words wouldn't help his friend. Stuff like "they can't put you in prison" sounded too weak. Of course they could put Sasuke in prison. Why not?

Naruto looked in Sasuke's eyes again. His legs got weak and his heart started to beat more then usually. They were adorable. Then he looked at the nose, which was perfect. He looked longer down, to the mouth. It was… tiny. Naruto looked away to take control over himself. He wanted to touch the lips, kiss them. Touch the nose and feel the black hair surrounded by his fingers. He looked at the eyes and didn't see any tears. Sasuke had stopped cry, and looked at Naruto.

Naruto knew what to do and took a step forward. He raised his arms a little higher and then he hugged his sad friend. He breathed in Sasuke's smell and he could feel Sasuke's hands on his back.

"I won't let them imprison you," Naruto said in a whisper. He hugged Sasuke harder. Raised his hand and touched the hair.

Did Sasuke feel the same way?

He could feel Sasuke's hands stroke his back and then he knew the answer; yes.

"Naruto…" Sasuke said and took Naruto's arms of him.

"Yeah," Naruto said and felt the hunger in his stomach.

"I heard that," Sasuke said and laughed a little.

Naruto went to the fridge and opened it.

"Ramen!" Naruto shouted happily and heard that Sasuke got scared. The sound of a human that crashed into a table sounded too funny. Naruto laughed. He heard a quiet 'hn' from the sofa.

Naruto put the ramen into the microwave. Took two pair of sticks from a box and put them on the table.

"What's this?" Sasuke asked when he sat on one of the chairs at the table.

"A letter," Naruto answered. "Kisame came and gave it to me. Something strange had happened, I think."

Naruto took the ramen out of the microwave and placed the two bowls on the table. The steam climbed higher, to the ceiling, and the smell of ramen filled the room. Then he looked at Sasuke.

"Who is it from?" Naruto asked.

"I can't believe it," Sasuke said while he read the paper. "It's from my brother, Itachi."

**What does Itachi want Sasuke? Read the next chapter and find out, chapter #3 will be longer than the first and second! **


	3. Meeting with old and new things

**Yay! The third chapter is uploaded. Sorry for the long publishing of the new chapter, but as I wrote on my profile, if I have much in school I'll not be able to write as much if I hadn't. **

**Read and enjoy this, new and exciting things happens now! If you want and have the time, please review, thanks. **

**The One or the Other**

Chapter 3: Meeting with old and new things

"I can't understand this," Sasuke said and shook his head.

"What?" Naruto said curiously.

"Read it, aloud."

Naruto took the paper and sat on a chair. He looked at the paper and saw immediately who had written it.

"Dear brother," Naruto began. "The past has made us like we are today, but the future will make us like we are meant to be.

I know when you think of the past, and that I suppose is often, you see me in the dark between our dead parents and yourself.

Everything you've done was because you wanted to kill me for what I've done.

Every step you took would take you closer to me.

Every step I took would take me closer to you, but not for killing you; but because I want the last Uchihas to don't try to kill each other and live in hatred. You may not understand this and I know it's a shock to you, but it's for your sake and you must know.

I didn't decide to destroy the Uchiha Clan. The Third Hokage made me to do it. I was summoned for a meeting with him and he told me what I would do. He knew who I was because I was an ANBU. He said that the Uchiha Clan would take control over the village and kill everybody. They wanted power. He threatened me with some talk about "kill the Uchiha Clan of myself and force you to look them in the eyes". I killed everyone and I was cold-hearted, but he did the most damage, believe it or not. I know everything sounds stupid but how could I make resistance against the Hokage?

I think you want to know why I didn't kill you. I can insure you that I couldn't because I love you to much. Yes, it was so uncomplicated.

I was a criminal, the one who betrayed his entire clan and I didn't have a single place to live in peace. For one year I hid in some strange countries and tried to live on my own. When one year had past I decided to join the Akatsuki. Everything was against me besides the evil itself.

All of us fought against innocent people and everyone feared us. But I didn't like it; it was just a way to hide. I was a coward.

After many years I got sick from all fights, I went beyond the limit to much of what my body could handle and it almost cost my life. I had one friend that could look after me, though I didn't want to. Everyone but him ignored me like an outcast.

I got better after one and a half year and then I and my friend left Akatsuki. We knew what kind of trouble we would be in; to be chased by Akatsuki. Your friend knows how it is and so do I, after a couple of years.

We have finally reached our goal; Konoha.

If you want to see us then visit us, we live in the smallest house in the village."

Naruto put the paper on the table and gazed at his shocked friend.

"Sasuke..?"

The black-haired didn't move for a couple of seconds. His face was expressionless but Naruto could see that his was a little bit pale.

Then he lifted his hand and took the sticks in his hand and after that he struggled to get some noodles on them. Sasuke did almost loose his patience but didn't want to show Naruto how upset he was.

Naruto did also began to eat, but in a deep concern.

Sasuke ate slowly and Naruto was finished a long time before him. It was the most embarrassing meal Naruto had ever eaten. No one said a single word and Naruto could barely see Sasuke so sad. But was he sad? Was he angry or maybe he was only relived but looked sad?

Naruto saw that Sasuke clenched his jaws.

"I always thought Itachi was a bad person…" Sasuke finally said.

He walked away from the table and beat his fist into the wall. The chair that he had sat on fell on the floor.

"I always thought that revenge was the solution and I was angry all the time!" He pulled his fingers in his black hair and almost tore it of. His jaws were clenched even more.

Sasuke was everything. Sad, angry, he had every emotion in his body. It was almost too much of emotions. He was shaking.

"You couldn't know…" Naruto said but was interrupted.

"It was my fault, Naruto, stop deny it!"

"Please Sasuke, calm down." Naruto was still sitting on his chair, but he wanted to go to Sasuke and do something to calm him down.

For a moment, Naruto saw his friend eyes. They were big, like always, but Naruto saw immediately that something was really wrong.

"Why are you using your Sharingan?" Naruto asked with an even more worried voice.

Sasuke looked at Naruto with a wild gaze. The red eyes made him look angrier than he probably was.

"I'm not using it," he said. It seemed like he was calmer now. He didn't yell out the words.

"I must have imagined," Naruto said and put down the two bowls in the kitchen-sink. But he didn't think that he saw wrong. One of the bowls was empty and the other was barely eaten.

"Yeah, you must have," Sasuke said and ended the discussion. Naruto looked him in his eyes, and they were black. But Naruto couldn't deny the fear he had felt. His friend was shocked, who wants to see that?

"Stop looking at me like that," Sasuke said irritated and glowered at Naruto.

"Sorry."

Naruto walked toward Sasuke who was standing in front of the windows, looking on the sky. It was getting dark. The stars shined and the light in the lamps outside lit up the dark streets.

Naruto put a shaky hand on the taller boy's shoulder.

"We will go and visit him tomorrow, Sasuke." The black-haired didn't move. "Even if you don't want to." Naruto saw something in Sasuke's eyes what maybe was confusion. Sasuke touched Naruto's hand that lied on his own shoulder.

"I want you to be there," he said and looked at Naruto. A little smile appeared on his face. He spun so he was standing face-to-face with the blond boy.

"I don't think that it's a trap," Naruto said.

"Neither do I, but I know that you makes the right decisions and that's why I want you to be there."

"What can go wrong?"

"Everything, it was years ago since I met him. I don't know how I should behave."

Naruto took a step forward. How is it possible to be so beautiful?

No, beautiful was the wrong word. He was flawless.

In one second, Sasuke's hand was on Naruto's cheek. The fingers caressed it, played with the whiskers.

"How did you get these?" Sasuke asked. He was still smiling. His troubles were gone for a while.

"You know," Naruto said and blushed. "Kyuubi". Then Sasuke kissed Naruto's cheek. And again.

"Sasuke…" Naruto said but was silenced when Sasuke's lips reached the mouth. Naruto didn't need to do anything. Sasuke hold Naruto in his arms so the blond boy wouldn't fall. When Sasuke took a deep breath, Naruto took the opportunity. His right hand climbed on the back and his mouth was kissing Sasuke on his neck. Then he touched the lips with his fingers. The fingers climbed higher up, to the nose. He kissed it. Then he touched the hair. He surrounded the fingers with the black hair. He felt something else, a pain. He ignored it. He kissed Sasuke's mouth again. Sasuke kissed back. He could feel Sasuke's hands on his back. But they were lower down this time. Sasuke pushed Naruto in the couch. Pain.

"Naruto…" Sasuke said and kissed him on the forehead.

"Continue". He got one more kiss on the forehead. Sasuke got blurred.

"Are you alright Naruto?" Sasuke asked concerned. He saw the pain in Naruto's eyes.

Naruto moved his hand from Sasuke's head and laid it on his belly.

"I'm alright…" Naruto said and felt more pain. "Ouch."

"No, you're not."

Sasuke sat up and laid Naruto's head in his lap. He pulled the fingers through the blond spikes and felt that Naruto was sweaty. He lifted himself from the couch with Naruto's head in his hands and put it where Sasuke had sat. Sasuke walked to the bed and took of the bedspread, walked toward Naruto and laid the nearly sleeping boy in his arms and carried him to the bed; although he wasn't so strong anymore. He gave Naruto the pyjamas and threw away the orange tracksuit. When Naruto had put on his pyjamas, Sasuke laid him down under the comforter. The blond boy had smiled a tired smile all the time but with closed eyes. Sasuke looked down on Naruto and stared at the beautiful boy. His hair was like golden silk and the mouth and nose was…

"Goodnight," Naruto said and lay on the side. Sasuke spun around.

"Aren't you tired?" Naruto mumbled.

"I'm coming soon," Sasuke answered and walked toward the bathroom.

When Sasuke was finished, Naruto slept. Sasuke lie down on the bed beside Naruto and lay his arm around him.

Then he felt something cold on his arm. He touched the coldness and felt that it was something wet. Blood.

Iruka lay on the ground, bruised. His arm was broken and his body was burned on some places after the lightings. He could nearly remember what had happened. The only thing he could remember was a strange creature and that his headband was gone. He heard someone walked near him. Someone looked in his eyes but Iruka couldn't see who it was. He heard a voice that called him but Iruka didn't move. He couldn't move. Everything got blurred and then it disappeared in the darkness.

"Iruka-sensei!"

Naruto woke up early this morning. He was alert and tried to move but saw a tiny arm around his waist. He lifted it and spun around so he lay face-to-face with Sasuke. Naruto kissed him on the mouth and touched the cheek. The other one mumbled a contentedly "hn" and smiled. He took Naruto's hand in his and kissed it.

"Good morning, Naruto," Sasuke said.

"Hey," Naruto answered and yawned.

"How are you?" Sasuke asked and moved a little bit closer to Naruto.

"Perfect".

But then, suddenly Naruto heard villagers scream outside the window. Naruto looked out through the window, concerned, and saw Sakura with a couple of younger kids.

"Something has happened," Naruto said and jumped up from the bed and hurried to put his clothes on. He forgot his headband in the rush and ran out from the apartment.

Sasuke still lay in the bed, smiling. Everything happened, too fast.

"Sakura, what's going on?"

"Oh. Naruto, Iruka is on the hospital," Sakura said.

"What?" Naruto yelled shocked. "What happened?"

"He got attacked." Sakura spun around and said goodbye to the younger kids, who probably got their lessons set off.

"I heard from Tsunade that Sasuke is back," she said.

Naruto nodded.

"She wants to…"

"Yeah, I know that," Naruto interrupted. "Can I visit Iruka now, or is the medical ninjas busy with him?"

"Yes, I guess you can," Sakura said and waved to Naruto when he ran from the place.

Naruto ran up to his apartment and opened the door. Sasuke stood in front of him with his hand in the air like he prepared to open the door.

"Sasuke, Iruka is hospitalized. I've must visit him; do you want to come with me?" Naruto asked. Sasuke answered with a nod.

"But you have to eat something," he said.

Naruto took Sasuke's arm and forced him out. "I don't have the time," he mumbled.

They went to the hospital on only ten minutes. The hospital was full of visitors and all the staff was busy and stressed. Naruto and Sasuke walked to the reception and asked were Iruka was.

"He's in room 214," a brown-haired man said. He had the familiar hospital clothes on, a white rock with a pair of white pants.

Naruto and Sasuke walked through the long corridor. The doors had numbers on but it was a long way to room 214.

"Iruka's room must lie near Sai's room," Naruto said.

"Who's Sai?" Sasuke asked.

"Right, you haven't met him," Naruto answered and felt that the situation would be a little embarrassing. "He was a replacement for you."

"Oh, I see," Sasuke said and didn't need to hear more. The word 'replacement' said little things, like lost hope and to give up.

The long corridor was quiet when the two shinobis didn't say anything. Other persons would say that the situation was troublesome and awkward, but they had wrong. The situation was full of thoughts. Naruto was concerned, what did Sasuke thought when he heard the word 'replacement'? Was it the wrong word? Was it the right word? Had Naruto lost his determination to take him home?

While the concerned one thought the other did the same. He couldn't stop thinking on the feelings Naruto must have felt. He must have felt sad, angry, abandoned, everything.

Then Sasuke knew how Naruto have felt and he decided that he would never do something like that he did to him ever again.

Everything was his fault. Not Naruto's, not Itachi's and not Orochimaru's either.

It was his fault. He was the one who should bear the burden. He didn't care how much it would cost him, just as long as Naruto was protected from it. He took Naruto's hand and hugged it, hard.

"Sasuke, we are here now," Naruto said and then realized that it could mean them or where they were. He opened the door but didn't let Sasuke's hand go. He hugged it as hard as he could. It was bony, but it was Sasuke's.

He walked in to the room and felt a lump in his stomach. Iruka lay on a bed, bruised and damaged. His eyes were closed and he looked a little bit strange without his headband. Naruto let Sasuke's hands go and took Iruka's in his.

"Iruka, please wake up," Naruto said and felt the lump in his stomach grow bigger. His blue eyes went wet and when he couldn't fight against the tears, he let them drip. To see someone so close to him so damaged, it took him down to the ground.

"Who can do such a thing?" Naruto said. "How can a person be so cold-hearted, so heartless?"

Sasuke stood behind Naruto; he didn't know what to do. Naruto looked so helpless, so miserably.

Sasuke took a big step forward and hugged Naruto from behind. The hug didn't get an answer but he didn't care. Naruto needed this, like he helped Sasuke. With a hug. With love. Sasuke gazed out through the windows. The sun was shining, no clouds on the sky and birds was flying in the air. He pulled his fingers through Naruto's hair.

"He won't wake up, not until everything is fine," Naruto said sadly. "Let's go."

Naruto took of Sasuke's arms and walked out of the room. His head were bent and the golden hair concealed the sad, blue eyes. Sasuke went after Naruto, closed the door after he took a little look at Iruka. _I hope you'll survive, _he promised the bruised one.

"Stop, Naruto." The sad one looked up. His eyes were red because of the tears. There was no smile, like it should be. Sasuke stood in front of Naruto. He looked him deeply in the eyes, wanted to find some happiness in them.

"He will be fine again," Sasuke said and tried to convince Naruto while he convinced himself.

"And what if he doesn't?" Naruto said. "He was the only person who looked after me, the only one who didn't see me only as a Jinchuuriki. If he dies…"

"He won't, trust me," Sasuke mumbled. He laid his hand on Naruto's back and they walked out from the hospital entrance. He left Naruto in the sunshine and walked in to the hospital again. He went to the reception.

"Do you know which house that is the smallest in this village?" he asked friendly.

"Yes, it's here," the man said and pointed it out on a map that he gave Sasuke. The house seemed to be known.

"Thanks," Sasuke said. "And please, do everything you can do to make Iruka better." The man nodded and Sasuke went out again, to find Naruto on a bench. Sasuke walked toward him and crouched down and put his hands on Naruto's knees. He looked him in the eyes, but then he was surprised. There were no tears. He thought that he would see thousands of tears dripping from the beautiful eyes but instead there was happiness in them. A smile appeared in the face when Naruto saw Sasuke and he straightened up and took Sasuke's hands in his.

"He'll be fine," he said and kissed Sasuke on the forehead. "I'm glad you're here with me."

Naruto looked up in the sky and the blue eyes dazzled because of the sun. Sasuke looked at the boy, is it possible to be so beautiful? Although he is a Jinchuuriki and has Kyuubi inside of him, but Naruto protects the village. Kyuubi can't fight against Naruto's goodness and courage. Naruto was stronger.

"Are you ready?" Naruto asked.

"So ready I can be," Sasuke answered and stood up. He took Naruto's hand and they walked to the northern part of the village. Since the hospital lay in the middle of the village, it wasn't hard to get to the smallest house. It was a small house, but didn't stick out. The house looked a little bit forsaken; the windows were full of spider web. Sasuke knocked on the door. He took a fast look at Naruto. The blond one saw that Sasuke was nervous. He was shaking and it seemed like he wanted to run away, far, far away.

The door opened. A blue man stood in front of Naruto and Sasuke. He was big. That was the word to describe him.

"Nice to see you again Naruto," Kisame said. "And because of your look I suppose you are Uchiha Sasuke." He invited them into the house. Kisame couldn't stand up normally because of his height. He looked strange without his Akatsuki cloak, but he didn't look so evil though.

"I think you're here because you want to meet Itachi." One of the two boys nodded. The other one was too nervous to nod or say something. Kisame shoved him in to a room. Naruto followed, uncertain. But he guessed that Sasuke still wanted him to be there.

"Sasuke and Naruto, why am I not surprised to see both of you here?" Itachi lay in a bed in a small room that had just a couch, a double bed and a table. On the floor there was an ugly carpet. It was typical for a house without owners. "I guess you got my letter, little brother?"

"Yes I did," Sasuke said. He stared at his older brother, what was he supposed to say?

"Please, have a sit," Itachi said and looked at the old sofa. Then he started to cough. Kisame came in to the room and gave him a glass of water. Sasuke started to feel nervous again, Naruto took his hand to make him calmer. The situation was a bit strange, everyone was acting weird.

"Are you alright now?" Kisame asked Itachi and they looked each other in their eyes, like they had a conversation. Kisame walked out again and Itachi looked at Sasuke.

"I'm glad that we finally see each other."

"Well…" Sasuke said and cleared his throat. Naruto was still holding his hand, like a support. He must remember to thank Naruto later.

"If you read my letter I don't think I have to say something about..."

"What happened to you, Itachi?" Sasuke interrupted. "You've always been so strong, so powerful, but you're just…so weak now."

"I saved your life, Sasuke, that's what happened." Sasuke lifted his eyebrows. Saved his life?

"What?"

"I defeated Orochimaru, and it took all of my powers. If it will be a next time, I'll die."

"Why did you...?"

"He was going to try to capture you again. I couldn't allow that."

"You didn't have to do that," Sasuke said. "I could do it for myself."

"No, Sasuke, you couldn't," Naruto mumbled. "You're too weak." Sasuke looked at Naruto, who was looking at him. Naruto was right, he knew it.

"But you can't fight anymore."

"I don't need to fight again; I found someone I want to live the rest of my life with, instead of fighting." Itachi smiled, and the happiness spread all over his face. "Of course we need to live hidden, Akatsuki will chase us."

"I think they're too busy to capture all the Jinchuurikis. They'll search for me instead, they won't chase you." Naruto was right again. Although the truth was hard to except, it was true.

"As long as you have something to fight for, no one will capture you." Kisame walked in to the room and looked seriously at Naruto. Sasuke hold Naruto's hand harder.

"Well, what about you guys?" Naruto asked when he wanted to get the attention from him. "You don't want to tell us the big news?"

Sasuke looked at Itachi and Kisame, what did Naruto mean?

"How did you know?" Itachi lifted his eyebrows, he was surprised.

"It's not hard to see," Naruto said and smiled. Sasuke couldn't figure out what he meant.

"I asked him for two days ago, and to my surprise Itachi said yes." Kisame smiled, big, and blushed. But it was barely seen. His blue skin got a really odd colour.

"You don't mean that you're…?" Sasuke began but closed his mouth. Then he smiled. "Hn, congratulations."

"Thanks, Sasuke. I appreciate that I have your support."

"Of course."

Itachi looked at Sasuke's and Naruto's hands. He lifted his eyebrows.

"Isn't it amazing how two relationships can turn into something else?" Naruto looked at Sasuke, who got a little bit red on his face.

"Or is more it amazing how feelings can live inside a heart for more than two years and survive?" Sasuke said with happiness in his voice. Once again, Itachi lifted his eyebrows.

"Was it really like that, Sasuke?" Naruto asked a little bit shocked. He looked Sasuke deep in the eyes, and yes, in those dark eyes Naruto could see the truth swimming around. He could also see something else in those eyes but couldn't see it as clearly as he saw the truth.

"Later, "Sasuke answered shortly.

"I heard some reputations today. They say that someone will lock you in, Sasuke." Itachi stared at Sasuke with his black eyes.

"Yes. But I haven't heard anymore."

"I think you will soon, but talk with me then. I won't let them imprison you."

Then the room got surrounded with a sound. The sound that is normally to hear when you haven't eat something for a very long time.

"Geez, Naruto. You must be starving."

"Yeah, I am too," Naruto answered.

"I'm sorry, Itachi, but we must leave." Sasuke stood up and pulled his hand trough his black hair.

"Of course, I understand. Good-bye, little brother. I'll be around if you want something."

"Good-bye, Kisame. Good-bye…brother." Sasuke hesitate. No, it didn't feel wrong to say 'brother'.

Naruto walked after Sasuke and said good-bye with a nod.

They left the small house and breathed in new and fresh air.

"I thought it never would end." Sasuke looked up in the sky to warm his face. The summer-sun was warm and welcome.

"Everything ends sooner or later," Naruto said.

"We must find something for you to eat."

"Ichiraku-ramen," Naruto said happy. He walked to the right and after a while they stood in front of the ramen-place.

"Good day, Naruto. The usual?" the old man said.

"Yes, please," Naruto answered and took two sticks. "Aren't you hungry, Sasuke?"

"No, I eat this morning. You're the one that skipped to eat." Sasuke gave the old man money for the food. The man placed a bowl with ramen in front of Naruto. Naruto started to eat immediately.

"I have never experienced something like that," Sasuke said and gazed at Naruto. He rested his head on his right arm.

"It was really weird in there," Naruto agreed. "I couldn't believe that Itachi did that to you."

"Did what?" Sasuke asked, feeling a little dumb.

"Saved your life and he did almost paid with his own life," Naruto said. "He must be the best brother in the whole world."

"But he killed the clan…"

"Do you remember the little sentence he wrote in his letter?"

Sasuke shook his head in confusing. "'The past has made us like we are today, but the future will make us like we are meant to be'."

"He realized that he was meant to do something different." Sasuke sighed. "But it feels like I need to pay him back." He scratched on his shoulder. A stinging feeling climbed on it.

"Mm," Naruto said and looked behind him. Kakashi appeared.

"I'm sorry if I disturb you but Tsunade summoned you."

"Hn." Sasuke stood up and nodded to Naruto. Naruto waved at him but continued his meal. Sasuke walked before Kakashi and the headed to the Hokage.

"Sasuke, you should prepare yourself," Kakashi said quiet but Sasuke could hear his warning. He sighed, why was this going to happen when he had just met his brother?

"Prepare for what? What can be worse than what I just gone through?" Sasuke asked Kakashi angry. He turned around and looked Kakashi in his eyes, no, his _eye. _

"Calm down, would you?" Kakashi said. The people that was in the near looked up on the angry boy.

Their whispers made Sasuke even angrier. He fell on his knees. He felt that stinging feeling again but this time it climbed all over his body. The whispers got louder, the people screamed. Sasuke held his hands over his ears.

"Shut up!" he screamed and panted.

"Did you hear that Itachi killed Orochimaru for him because he was too weak, he couldn't do it himself!" a person said.

"Yes, and he's living at Naruto, like Naruto want to protect that weakling."

"How do you know all that?" he screamed again. His head was going to explode.

"Sasuke," someone said. Sasuke fell on the ground. He tried to ignore the voices and closed his eyes. He lay on the ground, panting and with people surrounding him. The people glared at the boy. His skin changed colour. It changed to a blue-gray colour. His hair got longer. Two wings appeared and his shirt was no longer a shirt. He screamed; the power inside him burned. The power took control of his body. He could feel the rush of the power but he couldn't control it at all.


	4. One problem less

**Fourth chapter out! Read and enjoy, like I always says (writes). And if you have some time over, post a comment! I would appreciate it very much. **

**The One or the Other**

Chapter 4: One problem less

"Sasuke?"

He opened his eyes. Everything was blurred. He saw only something yellow move above him. He had headache and insured himself that the head was going to explode. He closed his eyes and tried to come back to the reality.

"I don't now…" the voice sounded again. Someone felt on his forehead. "No, it's cold."

Sasuke opened his eyes again and this time he didn't see everything so blurred. He tried to sit up but the body didn't want to do like he wanted.

"Welcome back," someone said. After a couple of seconds he understood that Naruto was the one who had been the yellow thing. He blinked a few times. Then he got aware of the pain he had in his whole body, not just the head.

"What happened?" he asked confused and saw Sakura and Tsunade behind Naruto. They were in Naruto's apartment and Sasuke was in Naruto's bed. He sat up, slowly but got dizzy nevertheless.

"You don't remember?" Tsunade asked angry. Sasuke recoiled. Why was she angry? "What you've done… it's not forgivable." She got red in her face because of the anger and she tried to make herself calmer.

"No, I don't remember," Sasuke said ashamed. "I only remember that Kakashi and I were walking to a place…" He took a quick look at Naruto, the blond boy looked scared.

"You hurt Kakashi and two others," Sakura said. There were no signs of anger or sadness in her face; it looked like she didn't have any emotions.

"_I _hurt them?" Sasuke looked at his shaky hands, could those hands have done something like that? "No, it can't be…"

"The people that were there when it happened saw it clearly."

Sasuke's memory came back. The public, the anger and the power. He remembered everything.

"They had right," he said. Naruto took a step forward and sat on the bed, beside Sasuke's legs.

"What did you say?" he asked. Sasuke didn't like Naruto's searching eyes. The eyes searched through his entire body. They searched for wrongs, mistakes and failure. They saw everything.

"Can you stop look at me?" Sasuke said irritated. He moved and stood up, and then he looked down at Naruto's scared face.

"Why does everyone stare at me like I'm a maniac?" He felt the prickly feeling again and he saw the black marks appear on his arms. Everyone took a step backward. The power took over him again and Sasuke understood at once what was going to happen. The same thing that happened to Kakashi. He lost control of his mind and the next second he attacked Naruto. Naruto got unconscious and fell to the floor. Sasuke prepared the lightning and then he shot it straight to the unconscious Naruto. Naruto stopped to breathe and become lifeless. Tsunade tried to make resistance but failed. Her life ended with a lightning too. Sakura stood on her place beside the table, she was panting and terrified.

"What's wrong with you?" she asked. Her eyes were wide opened in panic. She prepared herself to fight. Three seconds later she lay on the floor, with her own blood surrounding her. The apartment became a bloody and dead mess. The corpses lay everywhere. There were three dead persons lying there and Sasuke was the murderer.

"Sasuke, wake up!" Sasuke got conscious. Someone shook him desperately. When he opened his eyes the one that shook him stopped. He still lay on Naruto's bed. Naruto, Sakura and Tsunade surrounded him like before. Sasuke was confused. What happened?

"But I killed you," he said. He felt the sweat drain on his back. His hands were shaking.

"No, Sasuke. You fainted… and dreamed all that, I suppose." Naruto bent over the bed and opened the window. The wind blew in and cooled Sasuke. It started to get dark, the night was coming. The sunset coloured the sky in an orange way.

"Everything seems to be alright now, so we leave you guys," Tsunade said and nodded at Sakura. They left and Sasuke and Naruto were alone. Sasuke sighed, they were finally alone.

"Move," Naruto said and waited for Sasuke to move over to the side nearest the window. Then he sat on the bed. He stretched out the legs and his head was leaning on the wall.

"Why were Tsunade here? She has more important things to do, I assume," Sasuke said suspiciously.

"Eh…no one knew what was wrong with you and if you lay in the hospital you would probably run away, I think." Naruto scratched his head.

"Hn. I think I'm not the one that runs away from hospitals here." Naruto started to laugh.

"You never know, maybe someone would scare you," Naruto said and then understood how ridiculous it was. Sasuke, scared?

"I can be scared," Sasuke said like he could read Naruto's thoughts. He sat up and closed the window because it got too cold.

"Name once when you was scared."

"When I… No I wasn't scared that time…."

"Just admit it!" Naruto shouted and threw a pillow on Sasuke. It landed right on his head and then bounced down on the bed again. They laughed for a while at the strange situation. Sasuke thought for a longer time and knew that he had an answer.

"I was scared when Itachi killed the Uchiha clan," Sasuke said and made the mood seriously again. He had his arms crossed behind his head. The black hair surrounded his head and it was so black that a dark-blue colour appeared. His black shirt highlighted his torso, his skinny torso. A question came into Naruto's mind.

"Well, that isn't odd. Everyone would be scared to death if they were in a situation like that." Naruto lay down and spun around, with his question in his mind. He looked into the dark eyes and he could almost see himself in the clear surface.

"I suppose so," Sasuke said and swam around in the blue pools.

"Sasuke," Naruto said. "Will you ever be a shinobi again?" Sasuke raised his eyebrows in surprise and sighed.

"I don't know. Can I ever be _allowed_? I mean, after what I've done?" Naruto looked away from Sasuke and thought for a while. It wasn't an easy question.

"I don't know if you're allowed… but do you _want _to?" Naruto asked Sasuke. The black-haired thought for an even longer moment but turned around so he was laid face-to-face with the blond one.

"I have no idea; I mean what else can I do?" Sasuke answered. "I must train really hard to become like I was before and I don't have anyone with me this time. I must do it for myself."

Naruto looked at Sasuke and gazed into his black eyes.

"You know, you don't need to do it for yourself. I can be with you."

No, Naruto. You can't." Sasuke declined the proposal. Naruto raised his eyebrows and you could see clear that he was shocked.

"What's that suppose to mean, Sasuke?" Naruto asked. He was a little disappointed on Sasuke. He had come up with a proposal but Sasuke declined it, he had hoped that he could help him.

"After everything you've done for me and after nothing I've done for you… I just can't accept your help."

"Why not? It's not your problem."

"Actually it is. I see how sad you are every day because of the past and the way you blame yourself for everything. You blame yourself for everything _I've_ done."

"Sasuke…it's not like that. You're my friend, that's what friends are for."

"Hn, I must be a really good friend. I left the village and all I wanted and cared about was revenge on my brother that wasn't as evil as I thought. Then I came back and attacked the villagers. Yes, I _am_ a really good friend." Sasuke was sarcastic and moved his arms from the back of his head and laid the arms on his chest, still crossed.

"I think that you don't understand how a friend is and what they are for. That's the whole explanation."

"Why were you my friend after all? I did never listen to you and I insulted you in front of everyone. I didn't like you at all back then."

"You didn't hate me, Sasuke," Naruto answered. "You needed somebody to listen to you. I waited for the moment and then you finally opened your mouth. You didn't say the words that I wanted you to say, but at least I knew how you felt. That's the important thing, Sasuke."

"I don't understand how you're thinking," Sasuke said confused.

"Well, it's easy to say for me because I have friends and I'm used to it. But the only way to describe it for you is that I have known you a while now and I think I love you." Naruto closed his mouth, what did he just say?

"You…love me? Well, you're the kindest and bravest person I've ever known; I can never live up to _that_. You have an evil beast inside you but you have fought and shoved people who you really are. That's why I love you, Naruto, because you're just so damn beautiful. Both your outside and your inside."

Naruto almost dropped his mouth in surprise. What had Sasuke just said? He couldn't believe it; it sounded unreal to hear from someone like Sasuke.

"But…" Naruto said but was interrupted.

"Stop talking now, Naruto. It's not just your words I want," Sasuke said and turned around and kissed Naruto on his cheek. He hugged him, hard, and buried his nose in the yellow hair.

Naruto hugged him back and began to kiss the black-haired one on the neck. He took a deep breath and stopped thinking. All troubles were gone, everything that mattered was Sasuke. He kissed the neck harder and enjoyed every single moment.

Sasuke moved, still wrapped in Naruto's arms, and sat up. He took of his shirt and Naruto gazed at the naked torso. Sasuke moved again and this time over to Naruto. He caressed Naruto's chest and kissed him. He moved his pale hands lower, at the same time as he crept closer and finally sat on the boy. He pulled of Naruto's shirt, cautiously, and kissed him every second that past. Naruto had his eyes closed and his lips were formed into a smile. Sasuke took Naruto's head in his hands and gave him a really long kiss. Almost too long, Naruto couldn't breathe and opened his blue eyes. The light from the lamps was reflected in the eyes and they sparkled more than ever. Sasuke couldn't understand how he could be so perfect. So gorgeous.

Sasuke felt how his whole body got warmer. He gave Naruto a kiss on his chest, then lower down.

"Sasuke…" Naruto said, he was enjoying this. He wanted to take the lead and instead of get kisses he gave kisses. He wrapped Sasuke in his arms again and put him closer to himself. Blue eyes met black eyes for a second but then one of them closed his eyes and become the one who smiled. They switched places. Naruto kissed him everywhere, first on his neck and finally around his bellybutton. He made swirls with his tongue on the almost hairless torso. Then he stopped for a moment and looked up in Sasuke's face.

"I love you, Sasuke," he said and let the love control him. He took Sasuke's head in his hands and kissed him.

"I love you, Naruto," Sasuke answered and kissed Naruto back. But, still with his eyes closed. At the same time as the warmth raised a strange pain woke up inside one of them. He closed his eyes and took a deep breath and ignored the pain he felt in his stomach. He kissed Sasuke on more time on the mouth but then took Sasuke's right hand in his and kissed it. He kissed every fingertip and took a deep breath again.

"Sasuke, I don't feel very well," he said. The other one opened his eyes and let Naruto go off him. He sat up and took Naruto's hands in his.

"What's the problem?" he asked worried. He looked deep in the blue eyes.

"It hurts again…I feel dizzy…" Then something red dropped from his mouth and landed on the messy bed. His eyes closed and he fell backward.

"Naruto..!" Sasuke stood up immediately and put on his shirt fast, and then he took Naruto in his arms and ran out from the apartment.

"How is he?" Sasuke asked the doctor. He sat on an armchair but stood up when he saw the doctor who came out from Naruto's room.

The doctor looked confused but tried to cheer up the moment and smiled. The woman held a journal in her hands.

"He had internal bleedings but, luckily, he was here right in time so we could stop the bleedings."

"How could it happen?"

"We don't have a clue; everything was just a mess inside his stomach. We don't know how this could happen because we didn't find anything that shoved how this could occur. Everything except the bleedings looked fine." The doctor looked really confused and hugged the journal. "He needs to rest, but you can go inside and sit with him, if you want to." The doctor smiled and walked away.

Sasuke opened the door as soon as the doctor disappeared and took a step inside the room. He walked toward the bed that the blond boy lay in. Sasuke grabbed an armchair and moved it closer to the bed. He sat down and rested his head on the bed. The night outside explained his tiredness. He wanted to close his eyes and sleep but stayed awake if Naruto woke up. He turned his head and looked at the sleeping boy. Nothing moved except his chest that rose with every new breath he took. Sasuke took the hand that lay near him and caressed it. It was cold and pale. Pale like Naruto's face.

"Naruto..." Sasuke said and closed his eyes. He was too tired; Naruto wouldn't wake up for a while. He fell asleep with Naruto's hand in his.

The sunrise created a ribbon of all colours on the sky. But the colour strongest colour was the orange. The sunrise lit up the hospital room and painted the white walls with its colour. It didn't warm up the cold boy or woke up the sleeping boy, but the sunrise delivered calm.

The blond, cold boy looked though the windows and looked at the sunrise.

It was a nice way to woke up on; to see the ribbon of all the colours and see the one he loved the most to his left side. Sasuke was sleeping and he caressed the cheek that was upside and pulled with the black hair. He took a deep breath and closed his eyes again at the same time as he smiled. He was happy; he had everything he wanted now. He had someone to live with, someone to love and someone to talk about troubles with. The happiness had been exactly in front of him for years but he didn't know then. He hadn't now then how the black-haired boy had felt. He didn't know that both of them were in love.

Then he felt that Sasuke woke up. He saw the black eyes open and he took of his hand from Sasuke's head and let him sit up. The hair on the left side was flattened and he looked tired, like you do every morning when you wake up.

"Hey," Naruto said to Sasuke.

"Good morning." Sasuke yawned and stretched his arms. "How do you feel?" He laid his head on his hands that he rested on the bed. He looked to the right and found Naruto there.

"I don't know really. It hurts in my stomach, it feels like fire."

"Hn, the doctor told me what happened. You had internal bleedings but they couldn't find out why," Sasuke told Naruto.

"What? I mean… internal bleedings from nowhere?" Naruto didn't look as confused as the doctor but if he didn't look confused he looked like he didn't understand anything at all.

"Yeah, it's really weird, isn't it?" Naruto saw a shadow move outside the window that was between the corridor and the room. It stopped in front of the door and opened it. A man walked inside and was leaning on two crutches. His right leg was wrapped in bandage and so was his head too.

"I thought I heard the right rumours," Kakashi said happily and cheered up, but the no one could see his smiling mouth because of the bandages.

"How are you, Kakashi?" Naruto asked and sat up more straight. Sasuke stood up and sat on Naruto's bed instead and let Kakashi take the armchair.

"I'm better but as you see I will not be able to do anything exiting for a while." Naruto looked at Sasuke who looked out through the windows. "I heard that you came here too, what happened to you?" Kakashi placed the crouches on the floor.

"I don't know, actually, no one does. Everything happened so fast…I had internal bleedings from nowhere." Kakashi raised his eyebrows in surprise.

"That sounds odd…" Kakashi said. "And you didn't do anything that could be the reason for it?" Naruto looked at Sasuke, who looked at Naruto, and smiled.

"No, nothing weird at all."

"I see… why are you smiling?" Kakashi asked. His question sounded a little mean but Naruto understood why he had asked the question. It was the wrong thing to do in this serious conversation.

"Well…nothing," Naruto answered and stopped smile. Sasuke did almost start to laugh at the little odd moment but turned his head in an angle so Kakashi wouldn't notice. Unfortunately he didn't succeed to.

"Its feel like I've missed something," he said. "What are you guys smiling and laughing about?"

"Nothing really, your question was funny. Nothing else."

"Why didn't you come and visit me yesterday, Naruto? You've visited everyone else but not me," Kakashi said a little sad.

"I was busy, but if I had time I promise you that I had visited you."

"What did you do? No team had a mission yesterday what I can remember."

"He was with me all day," Sasuke said. "We had a few things to do."

"Okay." A loud voice was heard from the corridor. Someone called for Kakashi. "Have they already found out that I was gone?" He took the crouches in his hands and stood up.

"Good bye, then."

"See you later, you two," he said and walked out from the room. He closed the door behind him and at the same time Naruto and Sasuke started to laugh.

"If he just knew what we were doing," Sasuke tried to say properly as he laughed. "He would have freaked out."

"Stop talking, Sasuke, you're making my stomach hurt again!" Naruto laughed. Sasuke jumped down from the bed and sneaked toward the window. He looked out on the staff.

"They're acting weird because of our laugh," he said. Then he moved the curtains so no one could see in. He walked back again and sat on the bed. Naruto moved over to one side and Sasuke lay to Naruto's left side. "Everything is a bit strange."

"What are you talking about?" Naruto asked, confused because of the fast subject change.

"Well, I'm acting all weird around people and suddenly, you have bleedings in your stomach. I mean, nothing is like it should be."

"I guess not," Naruto said and closed his eyes, he was tired. "I need to take a nap." Sasuke let Naruto's head rest on his shoulder and he pulled with his fingers in the blond hair. He gazed out through the windows but then heard a sound from the corridor outside the room. Sasuke didn't see who it was because of the curtains. He turned his head and ignored the voices. Then he rested his head light on Naruto's and closed his eyes. He started to fell asleep, though Naruto was the only one that needed it.

But he opened his eyes as soon as he heard the sound of a door open.

Tsunade closed the door behind her and walked toward the windows. She was looking surprised, which wasn't strange because of her first sight in the room. Tsunade looked out and let the sunshine warm her face.

"Are both of you better now?" she asked Sasuke.

"Yes."

"I suppose that you know why I'm here?"

"Yes."

Tsunade turned her head and looked into the black eyes. She tried desperately to see more than danger in the boy.

"It's really hard to be a Hokage…" she began. "You want to save all the villagers from out coming threats and protect them with more than your own life. But it's hard because not everyone gets pleased with the moves you make. If someone changes side it is obviously that the person is an enemy to you and your village. But if the new enemy wants to change side _again_, then of course it's even less easy to make decisions. Of course you want to have an enemy less, but what if the enemy comes to the village and its powers is out of control? What to do? Can you imprison it, or abandon it? Do you want to send it to another village and hope that its friends don't die because of grief?" Tsunade looked at Naruto and raised one of her eyebrows.

"Can't you do something about it?" Sasuke asked. "I don't know what is going on but I'm not happy about it."

"I don't know…I've never seen anything like this."

"I just want that everything will be fine, that Naruto will be fine. It's something with the curse, but Orochimaru is dead so why isn't the curse gone?"

"Is Orochimaru dead?" Tsunade asked shocked and her eyes got bigger. "Why didn't you say something?"

"I found out yesterday," Sasuke said. Why did he say it? Maybe Itachi didn't want that Sasuke told someone about it.

"Oh…I see. Well, one out," Tsunade said, she sounded a bit sad about the news.

"It's seems like you're sad..?" Sasuke said hesitantly. Is it words that you can say to the Hokage?

"He was my friend and my enemy. We were like siblings, though it didn't look like it. Of course it's bad news, even for a Hokage. But…you aren't. So I have made my decision." Tsunade looked on Naruto again. The boy was sleeping and his head was resting on Sasuke's shoulder. He had his hand in Sasuke's and he smiled. He was happy in those arms. "I won't imprison you or send you to another village. I have to do some researches about your curse but everything will be fine for now, I think."

"It's because of Naruto, right?" Sasuke asked. He knew that she made her decision because of the blond one. She couldn't do something mean to Sasuke because Naruto would get mad at her then.

"It's because of both of you. You look so happy together and I don't want to take the happiness away from you. Naruto need to be happy, he deserve it."

"Yeah, he does."

"But I told you everything I needed to tell you. Don't let Naruto leave the hospital before the doctor commands it." Sasuke waved at her and the door was closed again. Naruto moved his head and opened his eyes.

"Who was it?" Naruto asked.

"Tsunade. We have a problem less."


	5. Red instead of blue

**The fifth chapter is out! But a very short one...Enjoy anyway and if you want, review!**

**The one or the Other**

Chapter 5: Red instead of blue

Finally we're out of here," Naruto said happily and stretched his arms. He walked out from the hospital doors and enjoyed the freedom. "I dreamed one time that I lived there for the rest of my life, old and crappy." The one to his left laughed and took Naruto's hand.

"But I kidnapped you instead and took you far, far away, right?" Sasuke said romantic. His eyes sparkled and he looked fine. It did much to him to get his curse away.

"No, I was too old and you didn't want me," Naruto said, but he didn't mean it at all. "I was thinking about before, almost everything is perfect right now. Your curse is gone and I'm fine, _for now._"

"Yes, finally." Sasuke caught Naruto in his arms and kissed him. "And I hope that it won't change." He kissed him again and then stood up straight.

"It's warm today, isn't it?" Naruto asked. He was thinking on something cool and refreshing.

"Yes, it is."

"We can go and bath somewhere…maybe have some pick nick and just relax."

"Its sounds good," Sasuke said. "I can go and fix some food and stuff. Be here about an hour."

"An hour? So long…" Naruto said hesitantly when Sasuke walked away. Sasuke waved at Naruto and disappeared around a corner. "What should I do then?" Naruto asked himself.

He kicked a rock with his right foot and had his hands in his pockets. The sun warmed his back, made him feel happier. He was really happy now, if it just could stay like this now.

Then he remembered the moment in the hospital. The unhappy moment that made everything happy. To see Sasuke die and to see him live again.

Naruto wasn't allowed to be in there when Tsunade did it but he couldn't stay away from Sasuke. If something got wrong and Sasuke was gone forever he did not have the chance to say good-bye. He realized how dangerous it really was. How he almost lost him.

Naruto sat down on a bench. He could take a stroll somewhere but he didn't want to. He wanted to just wait on Sasuke in his own loneliness . If he took a stroll he would meet someone that wanted to talk to him for a moment. And that moment would be like a half an hour at least. He saw a swing at his left and it hung under a tree. The swing was familiar and Naruto could almost see his own childhood in it. The ninja school was in front of him and the kids were in there and had their lessons.

Naruto lay down and closed his eyes. The bench stood in the shadows and cooled him. He lay there a few minutes and then he felt that someone stood before him.

"So the sun lay in the shadows," Sasuke said. He held a basket in his right hand. The time must have got faster than it seemed. Naruto stood up and took Sasuke's left hand. They walked from the place and went to the big gate.

"What did you mean with 'the sun laid in the shadows'?" Naruto asked Sasuke.

"You are the sun, Naruto. Didn't you understand that?" He smiled and gave Naruto a kiss on his cheek.

"We're at out goal soon," Naruto said. They walked about one kilometre in the forest and then saw a lake somewhere behind the trees. The sun made the lake sparkle and made everything look beautiful.

"You really know how to find the best places," Sasuke said.

The lake wasn't a lake with sand and sea grass. It was a lake with rocks instead of sand and trees instead of sea grass.

They stopped walking when they were near the water and Sasuke placed the basket on the ground. He took out a blanket and laid it on the ground. Naruto sat down and so did Sasuke. They had the sun exactly at them.

"I'm happy to see you alright, Sasuke." Sasuke turned his head so he saw the blue eyes.

"Yeah, I'm feeling almost _too_ fine," he said. He took a deep breath and rested his arms on his knees.

"I think it's about time to take a swim now," Naruto said after a couple off minutes and stood up. He took off his shirt and then he walked toward the lake. He stood with his toes in the cold water and then looked behind him.

Sasuke smiled at him but was still sitting on the blanket.

"Don't say that it's too cold in the water," Naruto said.

"No, it's not the water. It's you."

"What?" Naruto asked. He took one more step so the water was up to his ankles. The water was really cold.

"You're so beautiful when you're standing there." Sasuke stood up and took of his black shirt. Naruto smiled when he heard the compliment. He took the steps that were needed and then he jumped in the water. Sasuke did the same thing after him.

"I can't believe it's so cold when it's summer!" Naruto said. He had almost headache because of the coldness.

"I thought that it would be warm. But of course, this lake is surrounded by big rocks and mountains." He swam toward Naruto and then caught him in his arms. He kissed him, for a long time. Then he laid his hands on Naruto's shoulders. Naruto looked at Sasuke's shoulder and he didn't see the mark anymore. It was finally gone.

"Your mark is completely gone, Sasuke." He kissed him.

"Finally," Sasuke answered. "But I'm freezing all over my body. Let's go up." Sasuke took Naruto's hand and they walked out from the water. They sat on the blanket and wrapped themselves inside bath towels.

"I wondering, Sasuke, did you remember something when you died?" Naruto asked. Sasuke looked up and his black eyes met the blue ones.

"No, I barely remember the days after it happened. It's weird that the mark disappeared when I died."

"Yes, extremely weird."

"I think you were there. But you weren't allowed to be there, weren't you?"

"Yes, I was there with you. I thought that if you didn't wake up, I couldn't say good-bye to you."

"Tsunade is a good medical ninja, the best in the village. Of course it was safe." Sasuke spun around and then placed the basket between Naruto and him.

"And it worked."

Naruto felt a strange feeling inside him, like fire. Maybe it was just hunger.

Sasuke took out the baskets' content. There were things like bread, fruits and other pick-nick food. Naruto felt the hunger grow when he saw the food. He was actually happy to not see ramen today. He was kind off bored on ramen.

Naruto heard a sound from the forest. It sounded like walking people. Its sounds like a branch that someone breaks and someone that says 'ouch'.

The people appeared and there were no one familiar.

Naruto took some food on a plate and then he took a fork and a knife. Sasuke had already started to eat.

Naruto wanted to do something but he couldn't figure out what. Something he _needed _to do.

He took a bite of an apple. The sweet taste filled his mouth.

The other people jumped and swam in the water. They were just kids so that explained why they were in the water longer than Naruto and Sasuke were.

"It was a long time ago since we were kids," Sasuke said and took a grape in his hand. He rolled it between his fingers.

"Yeah, it was a long time ago. But I don't miss it at all," Naruto said and lay down. He took one more bite of the apple.

"Neither do I, I'm happy like the way I live today." He smiled and then placed the grape between his teeth. He moved over closer Naruto and then bent his head. He looked in Naruto's eyes.

"What are you doing?" Naruto knew that he wouldn't get an answer; if he did he would probably get a grape in his face.

Sasuke lay down but still face-to-face with Naruto. If it wasn't a grape involved there had been a kiss instead. Naruto opened his mouth and bite the green berry. Sasuke let Naruto eat it and then he gave him a long kiss. He moved over and placed himself on Naruto. He kissed him everywhere; he wanted to kiss every part of him.

"Sasuke..?"

"What is it, Naruto?"

"I just want you to know that I've tricked you." Sasuke stopped to kiss Naruto and sat up. He was confused.

"What?"

"I don't love you. Really, who can love a weak person like you?" Naruto smiled but it wasn't a kind smiling. It was a mean and dangerous smile.

"Naruto…what are you saying?" Sasuke couldn't believe what he just heard.

"I lied to you. I don't love you, I hate you. I hate your weakness, your behaviour, I hate everything about you."

Sasuke didn't know what to think, was Naruto honest or not? "This is something I should have done for a very long time ago, but I didn't understand what the problem was back then."

Naruto took something in his hand behind him. All time he was smiling the mean smile.

"What's wrong with you, Naruto? Your eyes, they're strange." Sasuke couldn't' believe what he saw, Naruto's eyes changed colour and the pupil wasn't round anymore.

"My eyes are like they should be every single day." Then Naruto shoved what he held in his hand. It was a knife. Sasuke stood up as soon as he saw it. This couldn't end well. He looked around and didn't find any place to hide from the crazy Naruto.

"Naruto, please don't do anything."

"And the weak one is trying to spare his own life, shouldn't he think about others soon?" Naruto chosen words cut Sasuke in his heart. They couldn't be true, but they were. Naruto didn't shove any signs of the way he was just a few minutes before. "Everyone would live like they deserve to live. But how is that possible when someone kills them?"

"I can't believe it…" Then Naruto's eyes changed from red to blue. Naruto fell to the ground on his knees and he panted.

"Sasuke…what happened?" he asked confused. He looked at Sasuke who was standing in front of him, scared and with his black eyes wide-opened.

"You were…different." Sasuke didn't go near Naruto. He stayed on his place, still concerned about the situation.

"I don't remember anything. What did I do?"

"You said that you didn't love me, that you tricked me." Sasuke took a step forward and then sat down, to Naruto's right side. Naruto caressed Sasuke's cheek and smiled.

"Do you think that I would say something like that to the person I love most?" Naruto looked shocked. "It doesn't sound like me. Maybe all you want is a hug." The blond one hugged Sasuke.

Then he used the knife he was still holding. He cut Sasuke in the stomach.

"What...?" Sasuke tried to stop the blood with his hands but didn't succeed well. It wasn't a deep cut, luckily but it was enough to start feel dizzy. Before he fainted he saw that the blond-haired boy ran into the forest.


	6. Hope

**Chapter 6 is out! Well, read and enjoy. Review if you want to! (I would appreciate if you did)**

** The One or the Other **

Chapter 6: Hope

"Search for him everywhere, do _not_ let him escape."

"Yes ma'am."

The ANBU disappeared from Tsunade's office.

She sat on her chair and laid her head on the elbows that she rested on the table. She closed her eyes for a moment. Must everything be so hard these days?

Someone knocked on the door. Tsunade answered with a hum and Shizune walked inside. Ton-Ton, the little pig, walked behind her. Shizune looked worried but relieved.

"We found him," she said.

"Good. What about the other one?"

"It wasn't a deep cut so he's fine." Shizune looked at Tsunade if she wanted to say something else.

"You can go now," was the only thing she said. Shizune walked through the door again with Ton-Ton behind her but she didn't close the door. She knew that Tsunade would go out from the room after she left.

Tsunade stood up immediately and laid the scrolls together so the table looked a bit nicer. Then she walked out from the room and closed the door.

She took the stairs down to the cellar. After a couple of minutes she was down there, in the darkness. The only lights in the cellar were some torches that hung on the walls.

Tsunade walked some metres and then saw four ANBUs. They stood before bars and blocked the door. Their serious faces were hard and didn't shove a single emotion. Tsunade stopped walking and stood before them. She looked them in the eyes, one at a time, and tried to get them to understand that they should say something. They were new, she thought.

"Say something," she said. "Did you get him?" One of the ANBUs, the brown-haired was apparently the team's leader. He took a step forward.

"Yes ma'am. He had gone far away but we were lucky and found him."

"And you kept everything secret?"

"Yes ma'am," all four of them said.

"Well, you can go now."

They left and Tsunade was alone, with Naruto. She took two steps closer to the bars and put her hands behind her back. She didn't see much, but she saw what was needed to see.

Everything with Naruto looked fine. His blond hair was like it should be and he behaved like he was the normal Naruto.

But when the blond boy turned his head around, and Tsunade could see his face, she froze. She froze because of the fear she felt, she froze because of the unusual situation. Naruto wasn't red-eyed normally, and he used to have a happy face. The face was turned in anger and revenge. It didn't look like Naruto; it looked like some kind of mad doppel-ganger.

Tsunade didn't want to confess that it was Naruto, but she had to. It was him. It was the boy she had seen a couple of hours ago, happy and in love. It was the boy she had seen walking out from the hospital fine and smiling. But it wasn't the boy's mind. His mind was gone, disappeared. Something else controlled his mind and forced the boy to do like it wanted. Naruto would never bee like this without something else involved. And Tsunade knew exactly what was wrong and who that was involved. Kyuubi was the answer. It was Kyuubi who had done this to Naruto. Naruto had never done something mean to Sasuke, never.

Tsunade stopped looking at the boy and placed her hands on the bars. Their coldness and Naruto's eyes made her froze even more.

"Naruto…" she said. Naruto, with Kyuubi's mind, didn't want to hear her. He turned his face away from her and moved further into the cell. The only thing Tsunade saw was the red, almost glowing, eyes.

"Don't walk away when I'm talking to you!" She heard a hissing from the cell's other side. She gave up and walked away, with tears in her eyes.

"I don't need to be here anymore," Sasuke said. The nurse was annoying and wanted to force him in the bed all the time. She said that he needed to rest but he didn't, actually.

"Yes, you do," she said again. Sasuke put on a shirt and stood in front of the nurse.

"As long as I'm careful I don't need to be here. I need to do something more important." The nurse wanted to protest against him, but Sasuke didn't care. He just walked out from the room and hoped that the doctors or the nurses didn't see him.

"I hate hospitals," he said to himself and opened the door. He walked out, in the rain, and walked to the north direction. He needed to see Itachi. Itachi knew what to do.

After a few kilometres he was in front of the small house. He knocked on the door and Kisame opened it, like some days before.

"Hello there, Sasuke." The tall man smiled and shoved Sasuke the way in. Sasuke took a step inside and then walked toward the bigger room. Itachi didn't lie in the bed. He sat on the sofa instead and drank a cup of tea. He wide-opened his black eyes when he saw that Sasuke entering the room. He stood up and smiled.

"I'm glad to see you again, little brother," he said and gave Sasuke a big hug. He seemed happier than last time, maybe he was feeling better.

"Yeah," Sasuke answered, empty on words.

"Does something bother you?" Itachi's smile disappeared and he had his worried-brother-look instead.

"It's something odd with Naruto," Sasuke said and sat down on the sofa, beside Itachi.

"Tell me about it," the older brother said. He held the cup in his hands and did probably warm them.

"It happened yesterday. It was warm outside so we decided to take a swim somewhere in a lake. And so we did, but then when we ate, Naruto began to act strange. He told me lots of things like 'I tricked you' and 'I don't love you'". Sasuke remembered the situation well. The words that Naruto had told him were still cutting his heart.

"It doesn't sound like him," Itachi said suspicious. "Did he do something else?"

"His eyes changed colour, to red. And he hurt me."

"Red eyes, doesn't that seem familiar, Itachi?" Kisame asked. He stood in front of them and his white eyes looked at Itachi.

"Yes, indeed. The red eyes sound familiar."

"Kyuubi, right?" Sasuke asked them but knew the answer. "Do you think that somebody can do something about it?"

Itachi stared at Kisame and tried to get an answer. Sasuke knew that the question wasn't easy to answer but he gave it a try.

"Maybe, but I don't know _who _or _what_," Itachi answered hesitated. "But Sasuke, Kyuubi is strong and powerful. More powerful than you know. If nothing can save Naruto…"

"Of course we can save him, or he can save himself, I know that. He can't just let Kyuubi take control over him."

"Sasuke…if the Hokage don't have an idea how this can stop…well, you have to accept it."

"Are you mad in your head?" Itachi almost jumped up from the sofa in surprise. "How can you say that I just should accept it? How is it even possible to accept that someone you loved died because of something like Kyuubi? How can I ever accept that I couldn't do anything?" Sasuke stared at Itachi. He met the black eyes and they were full of guilt.

"I…" Itachi didn't know what to say. Sasuke stood up and prepared himself to leave. He thought of to make a scene because he wanted to hurt Itachi. Just like the way Itachi hurt him.

"If you just knew how much I love Naruto…then you should know how I feel right now." He felt pain in his stomach. It wasn't as good as he thought. "I need to go."

"Sasuke, we need to talk this out," Itachi said. Kisame walked away and went to another room.

"I thought that you had a little idea about this, like you always had when we're kids, but I guess not." Sasuke left Itachi and walked out from the house, with pain in both his heart and his stomach. He knew what to do now, something he should have done first. It was the only way to take Naruto back. The solution was to meet him, even if it wasn't the _real _Naruto. But, he thought, sometimes is love stronger than revenge.

"What are you doing here?" Tsunade asked Sasuke.

"I must see Naruto," Sasuke answered and hoped that she would allow that.

"He isn't like you want to see him." Tsunade held a key in her hand. She wanted to give it to him, but she wasn't sure about it.

"I know, but I'm prepared for that," Sasuke answered.

"Okay, can you go down to the cellar by your own? I have lots of work to do."

"Of course," Sasuke answered and walked closer to Tsunade so she could give the key to him.

"But be cautious, it's Kyuubi we're dealing with. It's some guards down there." Sasuke nodded and left the office. He took the stairs down to the cellar and walked a little bit. Then he saw bars and felt coldness. The walls were bricks and that explained why it was so cold down there. All the torches weren't lit up, just as many that were needed.

He stopped walk when he saw the guards. They were standing in front of a door that went in to a cell. They took some steps to the left when they saw Sasuke and let him meet Naruto.

It was awfully quiet in the cellar and it was most quiet here, where Naruto was. You couldn't here a single breath from him and Sasuke began to hesitate. Maybe he wasn't there.

"Naruto..?" he finally asked. His question was answered with a hissing. The boy in there started to move and came closer so Sasuke could see him. He knew exactly what he would see but he couldn't deny the fear that grew inside him.

To see those red eyes and the angry face was scary.

Naruto had never looked like this, except from once, when they fought against each other. But this was worse. Everything was so visible, Sasuke could see the anger and he could see how much Kyuubi wanted to kill him.

He was prepared for everything, if Naruto crossed the bars and ran away, he was prepared. Everything could happen. But of course, Sasuke wanted that just a few, small things would happen. He wanted that the red eyes turned into a blue colour instead. He wanted to see the face happy instead of angry. He wanted to hear Naruto's voice whispering in his ear and say 'I love you, Sasuke'. He wanted to say the words himself too, but he didn't have the guts to do it.

He stopped stare at Naruto and looked at the dirty rocks, which was supposed to be floor, instead. He didn't want to make Naruto more upset, or Kyuubi. He couldn't stop thinking that it was Naruto. But he knew that it was Kyuubi actually.

"I love you, Naruto."


	7. It belongs to a monster

**The next chapter is out! The next one will be the last one. Read and enjoy, review if you want to! **

**The One or the Other**

Chapter 7: It belongs to a monster

A hissing was heard from the cage and the red eyes got smaller. The anger inside the lost boy grew but it wasn't _his_ anger. It was the anger that belonged to a monster that was kept inside him. The monster that always had been a problem. It had always been in the way, just like now. They couldn't spend the day together because of this.

Sasuke knew what he would do. It wasn't the smartest thing to do, he could kill himself. But he could sacrifice himself so Naruto could live like he deserved to live.

Sasuke remembered the guards that stood near him. They were a big problem, but he needed them.

"I'll open the door," he said and looked at them. Their eyes got bigger.

"No, you'll get killed."

"But I need to do this."

The guards protested. They behaved just like Sasuke knew they would. He took a deep breath and then used his special eyes.

"You _will _let me go inside, do not say a word to anyone." The guards stood still on their places. Their faces were wet because of the sweat. Sasuke stopped the genjutsu and his red eyes got black. He walked toward the cell again and took up the key from the pocket in his pants. He locked up the door and he felt sweaty. This could be the end of his life, or it could be the beginning. He should have said good-bye to Itachi and Kisame. But of course, they would just try to stop him. This was super dangerous; the chance to survive was very low.

He walked inside the cell when he opened the door and took small steps toward Naruto. All the time Naruto hissed and Sasuke got panicked. Naruto was scary and the red eyes did the moment scarier.

"I'll kill you," Naruto said. Sasuke didn't stop walking his small steps. Naruto stopped to hiss for a moment and Sasuke saw his chance. He took a big step and then caught Naruto in his arms. Naruto tried to escape and he was stronger than Sasuke. But the love was stronger than the anger.

Sasuke kissed him, but Naruto didn't kiss back. Naruto's acuminate teeth hurt Sasuke's mouth but he didn't care. If his plan worked, then everything will be good again. It will work for a while, but it'll never last.

Sasuke held Naruto, hard. Then he ended the kiss, but when something changed. The change wasn't the people that arrived into the cellar, it was Naruto that changed. Naruto got weak, his strength disappeared and some of his wildness faded. Sasuke was still holding him hard, or he would fall to the floor.

"What are you doing, foolish brother?" Itachi yelled. He was mad, but he didn't need to be. Everything was fine.

"Naruto..?" The blond boy looked on Sasuke. His red eyes met Sasuke's black ones. The anger in those red eyes had turn into confusion.

Naruto's arms climbed on Sasuke and held a weak grip. He rested his head on Sasuke's shoulder and sighed. But he didn't say something.

Sasuke looked at the people outside the cell. Itachi was mad, Kisame tried to make him calmer and the guards stood as still as rocks.

"He could have been killed!"

"He knew what he was doing, Itachi," Kisame said calm. Sasuke turned his head again and hugged Naruto even harder. Then he lifted Naruto and carried him out from the cell. He didn't meet the faces that he knew was staring at him. All he looked at was Naruto, the boy who had closed his eyes and rested his head on Sasuke's arm. He stared at the boy that he sacrificed his life for. He stared at the boy that was everything to him. Naruto was his life.

Sasuke carried Naruto up and then let him stand on his own legs. Naruto opened his eyes, they were red.

The guards from the cellar came behind them.

"Tsunade called after you, we take the boy to his place," one of them said.

"Who said what happened?" Sasuke asked but the guards didn't need to answer his question. The door to their left side was open and someone yelled. And he heard who was yelling. He walked toward the door and was inside Tsunade's office again. He stopped beside his brother and in front of the Hokage. She was mad, and so was Itachi. He remembered the key and laid it on the table.

"Explain yourself," she said.

"I didn't do anything wrong, right?" Sasuke couldn't understand the problem. Itachi and Tsunade looked with strange faces at him. It seemed like no one understood, actually.

"Are you completely insane?" Itachi said. Sasuke looked down at the floor and felt embarrassed.

"I did it for Naruto," Sasuke said. "That is my explanation. I knew I could have been killed, but rather that than his life." His brother sat down on a chair and Tsunade sighed. Sasuke knew why, he was pathetic.

"I understand," Tsunade said. Sasuke raised his eyebrows, he was surprised. "I have never felt the love that you feel when you meet the other half. It must be…perfect. I don't want to ruin that." Tsunade closed her mouth. Itachi stared at her and began to protest.

"He could have been killed, are you going to accept it?" Sasuke didn't want to stand in Tsunade's office right now; he wanted to be with Naruto.

"It's better that she accept that than his dead," Sasuke said, a little bit mean, to his brother. Then he went out, fast, and hurried to Naruto's apartment. It started to rain and the clouds became darker. The black hair became wet and the clothes weren't so dry anymore. He hurried his steps more and was soon at his goal. And when he was, he opened the door. But his expectations weren't there. Naruto wasn't there. The apartment was empty. He took a fast look in the bathroom. The only difference was the crashed mirror. The pieces lay everywhere, and some of them had blood on them.

Sasuke left the apartment and walked outside while he thought. Where was Naruto? After what happened he probably was at a place where he could be for himself. Somewhere he could sit down, alone with his thoughts.

Sasuke knew the answer and began to walk to the gate.

"Naruto, are you here?" Sasuke yelled across the place. The rain was still falling from the grey sky. The lake that had been so beautiful yesterday was now the symbol for the day. The lake was the symbol for what happened, the change of Naruto and all the damage. It was the damage that lived inside people's hearts, especially Naruto's.

"Naruto?" Sasuke yelled again but didn't hear any answers. He walked toward the place where Naruto and he had sat at yesterday. He looked across the lake but he didn't see a blond-haired boy swimming there. But he saw one sitting on a big rock, rested his head on his knees and held them up with his arms. His body seemed hard, it looked like he didn't breathe, and he didn't shove any signs to live. Sasuke lifted one of his hands and laid it on Naruto's shoulder.

"Naruto, are you alright?"

"No." It was an honest answer, he didn't lie. But Sasuke didn't like the sound in Naruto's voice. His voice was hard and sad.

Sasuke didn't know what to say, he didn't want to hurt Naruto with some stupid words.

"I don't know what to say; maybe I say the wrong words…" Sasuke said, hesitated.

"Then don't, just leave." Sasuke knew what this was about. It was exactly the same thing as before. Naruto blame himself. Sasuke moved his arm from the shoulder and searched for the hand. Naruto didn't like that Sasuke touched him. He moved, fast, and left the rock. Then he started to froze, the rain began to make him cold. Sasuke looked at him and recoiled, though he didn't want to.

"Don't look at me!" Naruto yelled and turned around so Sasuke couldn't see his face. He started to shake because of the rains' coldness. "I'm terrible!"

"No, Naruto, you're not." Sasuke took a few steps toward Naruto. Then he saw Naruto's hand, it was bloody.

"What happened in the apartment, Naruto?" Sasuke asked, but he knew the answer. He remembered what he had seen. He hadn't seen it then, but he had seen it after all. He had seen the two bodies and the blood. The blood that has been all over the place: on the floor and the walls.

"I don't remember. But it isn't my blood on my hands." Sasuke feared what had happened. It was possible that Kyuubi had something to do with it. These black-outs explained many things.

"Do you remember something from the cellar?"

"No."

"Do you remember the night when we were making out?"

"No." Sasuke stopped asking questions, he had the answers for everyone. The injuries that Naruto had before and these black-outs; it was all because of Kyuubi. And Sasuke figured out why the fox did this to Naruto; it was because of the love. Because of Sasuke.


	8. Differences

**The last chapter is uploaded! I hope that you liked my fanfiction. I think I'll start to upload my second fanfiction after New Year. Just so you know! **

**The One or the Other**

Chapter 8: Differences

The day was perfect; the sun was shining and the sky was blue. There were no winds or rain. The air was filled with the love that the two persons felt for each other. The sitting persons sat in front of them and listened to the words they said to each other. The promises.

"Why do people get married?" the one asked.

"Because they want to spend the rest of their life together," the other answered. "They want to connect a bond with each other."

It was now Itachi's turn to speak. He repeated the words that the man between the two men said.

The man spoke a long time. Sasuke took Naruto's hand and laid it in his.

"You know that I love you, right?" Naruto asked, uncertain.

"Yes, I know that. And I hope that you know that I love you." Sasuke kissed Naruto's hand. Then he felt that Naruto didn't relax and looked at his face. His sunglasses covered his eyes but Sasuke knew that Naruto thought on something.

"You are now husband and husband." The men kissed each other and the people began to clap their hands.

"Do you still love me when you know how it'll be?"

"Yes. I don't care how strong Kyuubi is, sooner or later he'll let you go." Naruto reacted when Sasuke said the monster's name.

"Don't say the name today please," the boy in the sunglasses said. "It's supposed to be a happy day. I mean, it is Itachi's and Kisame's day."

"The fear grows when you deny it," Sasuke said and looked on the couple that walked from the place. The others began to walk away too; Naruto and Sasuke were the last people left. They didn't want to leave because the place looked so perfect. The trees in front of them were green because of all the leaves. There were some red roses in vases and they stood on white tables. It was typical things for a wedding in the middle of the summer. And of course, the love. The most important thing. It doesn't only exist between the bride and the bridegroom. There were the love between the siblings and sometimes, the parents. It was the love between friends and the ones that you trust the most. And the love between the new couple. There were always two persons that were in love. This time it was between two boys. The one that was uncertain, depressed and unhappy. His blond hair could have been the sun if it was a smile too in his cold and expressionless face. He didn't wear sunglasses because of the sun, it didn't disturb him. He wore them because to hide his eyes. The eyes that were described as evil, revenge and destroying. They were the opposite of his old eyes; beautiful, happy and almost sacred because of the calm that was delivered from them. His red eyes were new. He didn't like them because it made him look like his inside. His inside was where the monster was kept. If people saw his eyes, then they would be scared and no one would respect him anymore.

Except his boyfriend; Sasuke. Sasuke was holding his hand, tried to help him. He tried to fix the problem; Kyuubi. He knew that he couldn't do anything to help him. The only thing he could do was to be there, with Naruto. He couldn't prevent what Kyuubi did, but he could help Naruto to not fall to the ground again. He could help him to not stop believing on himself. But he felt lost.

Naruto stood up and let Sasuke's hand go. He forced himself to smile. Sasuke stood up and they walked away from the place, but they didn't hold each others hands like they used to do.

They walked with the sun behind them and came to Itachi and Kisame. They talked to their new friends that they found in the village when they arrived. Itachi saw when Naruto and Sasuke came and he smiled. He walked away from the people and let Kisame stand alone and talking. His happiness was almost shining around him.

"Congratulations, Itachi," Sasuke said and gave him a hug.

"Thanks, it wasn't too much then?" Itachi said, uncertain.

"No." Sasuke took a look at the quiet boy that stood on his left side. Naruto stared at the ground. Instead of looking on the depressed boy he looked at his brother again. Itachi's smile was gone and he had his worried-brother-look. Sasuke knew which his thoughts were. Then he felt that he needed to talk to him, alone.

"Naruto," he said and the blond-boy looked at him instead of the ground. "Itachi and I need to talk, why don't you sit down for a while?" Naruto nodded and walked toward the chairs they had sit on before. His eyes met the ground again.

"Itachi, I don't know what to do. I have never felt so… lost. I can't do anything to help him and I see it everyday. If I had done something, just a little thing, then I could have seen him smiling today."

"Sasuke, this is typical you." Sasuke looked at his brother, confused. What was typical him? "You blame yourself and think that _you_ must do something. Kyuubi is a _really _big thing and he won't let Naruto go for a while. He won't let him shove the emotions that Naruto really feels. Naruto will have black-outs and Kyuubi will attack people through him. He will hurt you again, and probably worse. You have to be strong, just wait and have patience."

"It's just so hard to know that he deep down loves me, but he can't shove it. And he doesn't allow me to kiss him or hug him, because he hates himself. It's so wrong!"

Itachi laid his right hand on Sasuke's shoulder to calm him down.

"It won't take long. In a few months, Kyuubi will loose the grip of Naruto and then Naruto is like before again."

"And what if Kyuubi doesn't loose the grip? What if I have to live with Naruto like this everyday in the rest of my life? It hasn't been a week since it started, how will I ever survive months?"

Sasuke looked at Naruto, he sat on a chair. He didn't move, just sitting there.

"You have me, Sasuke. I wasn't here before but I am now." Itachi was worried for his little brother. He hadn't felt what Sasuke felt now, but he understood the problem after all. Sasuke was lost, and he had been there to. Lost in the world, uncertain and without help.

"Well, I don't want to ruin your big day with my worries," Sasuke said and smiled a fake smile. The short-haired Uchiha turned around.

"Naruto," he yelled but without answer. Naruto didn't move. "Damn." Sasuke walked fast, almost ran toward him. He laid his hand on Naruto's shoulder and crouched. He let his hand glide down from the shoulder and laid it on Naruto's knee instead. Naruto didn't react. Sasuke looked through Naruto's sunglasses but then remembered that they haven't changed since a few days. "Naruto, answer me."

The answer he got was Naruto's hand. Naruto laid it on Sasuke's and his nails made sores on the skin. Sasuke felt the pain grow and he tried to take away Naruto's hand. "You hurt me." But Naruto's hand was still there and the sores began to bleed.

Then Naruto took away his hand. He looked down on Sasuke and tried to understand why Sasuke was hurt.

"What happened to your hand?" he asked. Sasuke closed his eyes and after a couple of seconds he opened them. He took a deep breath and then looked into the red eyes.

"A cat scratched me, really deep." Sasuke lied. He said a pure lie to his boyfriend, to save him from his bad conscious.

"Oh," was Naruto's reaction. He didn't see the blood on his nails, or he didn't recognise it. Sasuke stood up and walked away. Naruto followed him, walked slowly behind the black-haired one. Itachi stood at the same place as before, looking on the two boys that came closer to him.

"Sasuke, it's just one thing I wondering," he said. "Is it really like you said, that you want to live the rest of your life with him?" Naruto didn't hear what Itachi said. He was gone, again, in his own thoughts.

"I love him, Itachi. I can't see a future without him." Itachi smiled, happy because his brother had found the love. It could have been impossible because of what happened in the past, but fortunately it wasn't impossible.

The tall, blue man came toward them. It looked like he had fled from the people, tired on their talk. "Itachi, I think we must go home," Sasuke said.

"Why so sudden?"

"Naruto," Sasuke answered. Naruto couldn't stay here anymore. All the happy people remembered him about love and happiness. He knew that Naruto was thinking on exactly those things. He knew it because Naruto had his sad face. If he didn't smile, then he thought of those things that he was wondering about. And it was the things that made him miserable this time. The things that Kyuubi held in his hands, far away from Naruto. Love, happiness; everything that made him happy. All he was now was an empty shell.

Sasuke and Naruto said good-bye to Itachi and Kisame. They didn't have a goal; they just walked in the sunshine.

"How does it feel when you see me?" Sasuke asked Naruto. Naruto looked at him, surprised by the question.

"I…don't now." Naruto took of his sunglasses, tired of the strange light he had to see in all the time. Sasuke didn't' look into his eyes, they were still scary. They were so strong, powerful.

"Do you feel anything at all?" Sasuke kicked a rock; it landed a few metres away. They stopped and Sasuke turned his head so that he saw Naruto's face, but he avoided his eyes.

"Of course," Naruto said, but he didn't convince Sasuke.

"Exactly _what_ do you feel?" They continued their walk. Sasuke put his hands in his pockets. Naruto hesitated and thought for a while.

"I feel more for you than others," Naruto answered. "But I can't say _what_." Sasuke felt how a lump began to grow inside his stomach. A lump filled with disappointment, fear and too much love for a certain person. Maybe it could grow too big and it exploded. It could be the end for this couple.

Sasuke didn't say something. He let it go; it wasn't Naruto fault after all. He had to understand that. He had to see Naruto like he was before and don't see him like an empty shell. He must do that for Naruto's sake. What if he left Naruto all alone? Everything could be possible to happen then. Kyuubi could realize that he could do what he had longed for to do; destroy the whole world. Or Naruto got normal and didn't have Sasuke anymore. But everything would end with destroying. The only way to stop it was to stay with Naruto. He had to endure it.

"Sasuke?" Sasuke looked up from the ground and looked at Naruto, this time in his eyes.

"I know that I love you, that's everything that matter. I'll be like before, I promise." Naruto took Sasuke's hand and hugged it, hard. Then he did the most surprising thing he could do, he kissed Sasuke on his cheek. "And I want you. I hope you know that."

"Actually, I didn't. I have been wondering for a few days, if I should leave you or endure this strange situation."

Naruto's face turned into a new expression; surprised.

"Really?" Sasuke nodded, he told him the truth this time. He was a fool that thought that it maybe would be better to lie. He had forgotten what kind of person Naruto was.

"I lied to you before, Naruto. It wasn't a cat that scratched me. It was you."

"Oh," Naruto said. "But I didn't mean to do that. You know that, right?"

"I know," Sasuke said understanding. Then he did something he had longed for over five days; he kissed Naruto. Naruto answered back this time. Sasuke was glad; he got a few minutes with the normal Naruto. It pleased him to see Naruto happy, or happier. Sasuke ended the kiss, but didn't let Naruto leave him so he hugged him. He breathed in Naruto's wonderful scent and enjoyed the moment. He felt Naruto's hands on his back. Sasuke looked into Naruto's eyes. Something was different, they were red like before but he could see something next to the pupil. Something blue as water and small as a needle. Naruto eyes had started to change.

**Taadaa! If you liked it and want to share your thougths, then review. The last thing I want to say is: Merry Christmas! **


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